Happy Halloween!
by Irish Thorn
Summary: When the Potters host a Halloween party, Draco gets an interesting bit of news...


_A/N: In the spirit of Halloween, my absolute favorite holiday, I give you a cute little one-shot about "the best Halloween ever"! Enjoy!_

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><p>It was Halloween night and there were Muggle children everywhere. The street was lit by just the street lamps, the cold wind blowing through the trees, knocking leaves to the ground. The witch at his side was, accurately, dressed as a witch; complete with fake wand, fake broom, fake witch's hat, and a skimpy little black tutu number with black and green striped tights. It would have been much cheaper, in his opinion, to just use the actual items, but whatever, he was only participating in the holiday for her. He himself was wearing a Muggle tuxedo and just a small black mask covering the skin around his eyes. He thought he looked ridiculous, but he would do anything to make the witch beside of him happy.<p>

They were on their way to a Halloween party thrown by a friend of theirs. The friend lived in Godric's Hallow, a small hallow not far from a Muggle neighborhood; hence the large amount of Muggle children running about and screaming like the terrible little heathens that they were.

The couple approached the front door of the house that they were making their way toward, still dodging in and out of the children that littered the community. The witch knocked on the door, bouncing back and forth on the balls of her feet in excitement. This caused the wizard next to her to laugh; and her to throw him a quick wink and a smirk. The door finally opened, revealing none other than Harry Potter himself.

"Hermione! Glad you could make it! Ginny said you hadn't been feeling well," Harry happily greeted his best friend, leaning in to give her a quick hug. He was dressed in purple robes, half-moon spectacles perched on his nose; he was dressed as Dumbledore, former Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Oh, Harry, Ginny exaggerates so! I was feeling a bit peakish one day last week when we had tea, nothing at all to worry about." Hermione grabbed the hand of Draco Malfoy, dragging him with her as Harry led them through the crowded front room and into the kitchen. Her other best friend, Ron Weasley, was sitting at the kitchen table dressed in all green velvet from head to toe. Hermione and Draco both stared as the red head stood to greet them.

"Ron, what are you supposed to be exactly?" Hermione watched as Ron's ears turned dark red, the blush spreading down to his face and neck.

"I'm Peter Pan." Hermione and Draco both started laughing; everyone knew who Peter Pan was, even Pureblood children. The two quieted down after a minute, Draco still snickering every now and then.

"Ron. Why?" Hermione was very nearly speechless at the ridiculousness. He wouldn't answer, so Ginny piped up and answered for him from where she was standing in the doorway, dressed as Minerva McGonagall. The humorous tone of their couples costume wasn't lost on Hermione.

"His new girlfriend should be here soon, and she's supposed to be dressed as Wendy." Hermione walked over and grabbed her best girlfriend up in hug.

"'Ello, Gin! And who is this new girlfriend of which you speak? Is it anyone I know?" The girls put their heads together, the men all congregating on the other side of the room. Harry and Ron had gotten quite used to having Draco around for parties and such, as he and Hermione had been seeing one another for nearly three years now. It took a bit of adjustment, but now they quickly engaged him in their conversations like he'd been their friend just as long as Hermione had been.

"What's new with you, Malfoy?" It was Harry that asked the question, drawing the blond wizard from laughing at the tall red head's choice of attire.

"Oh, well, the company's expanded onto the continent finally. I'd been hoping to make the move several years ago, but the business world just wasn't lined up just right until recently. Zabini and I have merged and intend to open several more buildings within the next year alone." Draco was quite proud of his accomplishment. Sure, he could have opened on the continent much sooner, with the boat load of money that he had, but the market just wasn't right, and he wasn't willing to take a hit on any investment.

"Good on you, Malfoy! This calls for drinks!" With a wave of his wand, Harry summoned three butterbeers from where they were chilling in a tub of ice in the parlor. He handed them to the guys and the three shared a drink.

"What's new with the two of you? Other than Weasley's new girlfriend." Draco took a swig from his bottle.

"Well, Ginny's just taken a job as Quidditch correspondent for Witch Weekly magazine. She's decided that now that Lily is two, she can finally go back to work."

"And about bloody time, too! Those spawn of yours were just about to drive me around the bend!" Ginny and Hermione had come up into the conversation at that point; and as if summoned by the announcement of their existence, the three children in question came bounding into the room.

"Ah! Here they are now!" Harry scooped up Lily into his arms, she was dressed like a little princess, and she latched her arms around her Daddy's neck.

"Aunt 'Mione," Albus pulled on her sleeve gaining her attention, "Will you go trick-or-treating with us?" The young boy looked so hopeful and sweet dressed like a miniature Harry Potter, lightning bolt scar and all.

"Now, Albus, you know Grandma will be here shortly to take you three out and then it's back to her house for the night," Ginny smiled fondly at the boy, her tone one of a parent having repeated themselves one too many times throughout the day. The little boy in question looked so forlorn that Hermione squatted down next to him so that they were eye level.

"How about this, I'll stop by tomorrow and help you sort out your candy? Then we can spend more time together. How's that?" Draco watched Hermione interact with the four year old, loving that she so seamlessly spoke to the young boy as if she was speaking to a tiny adult. The boy seemed to think for a bit, not sure if it was really a good bargain or not, but agreeing nonetheless. "There's a good lad, now you best get your shoes on so you're ready to go when Grandma gets here." The two older boys took off for the entry way, Lily struggling to be released by her father so she could follow. As quickly as they'd entered the room, they were gone. The adults standing there laughed a bit, not remembering ever having so much energy.

"You're so great with them, 'Mione! But you don't really have to stop by tomorrow just to help them sort out candy. It'll probably be a waste of time anyway, as I'm sure the majority will be gone by then," Ginny laughed at her own joke.

"Oh, I don't mind a bit. I welcome any opportunity to visit with those darling children!" Hermione had a sweet smile on her face, she really did believe Potter's hellspawn to be, as she said, 'darling'.

Just then, the doorbell rang, and the floo went off. Molly Weasley came through the floo brushing off her robes as she called out her presence, and James asked if it was ok to open the door. Harry yelled back that he was not to open the door without an adult there to help him; and that they were by the front door so Molly could find them. A rather large group of former Gryffindors were at the door, but they moved back so the three Potter children and their grandmother could exit for the Muggle festivity of trick-or-treating.

The party was soon in full swing, everyone was drinking, talking, laughing; the Potter's threw a party every major holiday, and there were always many people in attendance. Draco didn't recognize many of the attendees, guessing them to be work acquaintances of Harry and Ginny; he did, however, notice when Pansy Parkinson walked in wearing a blue and white dress that made her look almost innocent.

"She's Ron's new girlfriend." Hermione had seen Draco notice when his old school chum had walked in. He hadn't, however, noticed when his sexy little witch had sidled up to him.

"Really? Never would have guessed." Draco took a drink of the butterbeer that he'd been nursing all night. "Seems to fit though." He added as an afterthought.

The two stood side by side, both in silence, for quite some time. They were each lost in their own thoughts, oblivious to their surroundings. It wasn't until someone bumped into Draco's shoulder that he snapped out of his trance.

"Thanks for saying hi, Draco." The voice could only belong to Pansy Parkinson. Draco smirked at the woman, politely asking her how she'd been before pulling Hermione over to say hello as well. The three spoke for a few more minutes before Pansy excused herself. Draco was feeling a bit nostalgic for having spoken to an old friend, and turned just in time to see Hermione duck out of the room. He followed, not bothering to apologize when he bumped into several people along the way. He hoped that Hermione wasn't upset about him speaking to Pansy. She knew that the two of them had had a bit of an on again, off again relationship when they'd been in school, and hoped she wasn't feeling insecure. He'd better find her and put those insecurities to rest.

When he eventually caught up to her, she was in the upstairs water closet, vomiting into the toilet. She was desperately trying to hold her hair back, prompting Draco to jump into action and do so for her. He patted her back a few times, rubbing soothing circles into her shoulders and neck.

"Are you alright, love?" He couldn't believe she'd just gotten sick; the witch was never ill. Maybe she'd eaten something at the party that didn't agree with her. He waited until she sat back on her heels and flushed the toilet before jumping up and getting her a cool wet cloth. He handed it to her, sitting next to her on the floor. "I'll go make our excuses once you catch your breath. We'll go on home and hopefully you'll feel better in the morning." The witch took a deep breath and looked up at the sweet wizard next to her.

"I'm perfectly fine, Draco. The healer I saw last week informed me that it is quite normal for a pregnant witch to be sick without any warning like that. I do apologize for running out on you though, I realize that…" Draco had stopped listening. Was she saying what he thought she was saying? It couldn't be though, could it? They were always so careful. He wasn't ready for children; he referred to the cretins as just that: cretins. Children were just gross little buggers, something always coming out of every orifice on their body. He was a business man, not a baby sitter. He realized that Hermione had stopped talking at some point and looked down at her stomach and up to her face. "I'm sorry, Draco, I should have told you sooner. I was just afraid that you would say you weren't ready and walk away from me. I know we've been together for nearly three years, but you've devoted your life to your business and I know this is so sudden—" Draco held up his hand to her mouth, effectively cutting off her rant.

"Hermione, stop talking for a minute." Draco collected his thoughts as best he could in just a few seconds. He needed to assuage the witch's fears. "I know this isn't the best time, but a baby will never come at a 'best time'. We were eventually going to get married and start a family anyway, so things will be fine. I just need some time to process all of this. Come along." Draco stood and offered his hand for her to stand as well; she tentatively took said hand, afraid of what exactly 'come along' meant.

Draco led them downstairs and in the midst of the commotion to find Potter. He told him that Hermione was under the weather and that they would be leaving. The two made it to the floo without being stopped by anyone, but before they disappeared in the telltale flash of green flame, Draco turned to the room and yelled out for everyone's attention.

"Oi! I've news everyone!" Once all eyes were on them, he continued. "Hermione and I are having a baby! Happy Halloween!" The two disappeared before they heard any of the cheers ring out behind them. Hermione fell out of the fireplace laughing when they got home. She turned to Draco with a big smile on her face.

"Happy Halloween?" She chuckled a bit more. Draco kissed the girl in front of him gently, pulling her into a sweet embrace.

"Well, it is. Best Halloween ever."

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><p><em>AN: Please take the time to review. I can come up with more one-shots if I have motivation. Also, feel free to PM me a prompt and I'll dedicate a story to you! Thanks for reading!_


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